Massive Killings of LGBTQ and Emo youth in Iraq – What is the story?

Since 6th of February there have been continuous reports of massacres of youth who do not conform to a strict normative dress code and/or sexualities, up 90 people have been killed so far.

Attacks, kidnapping torture and murder of ‘Emo’ youth (roughly equivalent to Punk/Goths) and individuals perceived as gay, lesbian or trans continue to emerge from Iraq. Moral panic has been stirred up by militias about Emo youth for the last year, alleging they are adulterers, Satanists, vampires and sexually depraved. An Iraqi source has testified that threats have been given to some Emo youth, LGBTQ people and their families in Baghdad about a month ago.

Colonel Mushtaq Taleb Muhammadawi, Director of the Community Police of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, state on the 6th of February that the phenomenon of “Emo” or so called “Satanists” is being observed. He added that the police have an official approval to eliminate Emo people because of their ‘notorious effects’ on the community.

The Colonel declared to Iraq News Network that ‘research and reports on the Emo phenomenon has been conducted and shared with the Ministry of Interior which officially approves the measures to eliminate them’.

‘The Ministries of Education and Interior are taking this issue seriously and we have an action plan to “eradicate them”. I will be leading the project myself and we have the needed permits to access all schools in the capital,’ added the colonel, thus possibly indicating at the very least Iraqi state complicity with the massacres.

Speaking with Gay Star News, O. a university student from Baghdad explained that Emo youth are perceived as gays who worship Satan and are also labeled ‘vampire groups’ for being suspected to suck blood from each other’s wrists in their satanic gatherings.

He stated: ‘There is no religion that would dictate the killing of those who look different. Even if we credit the ridiculous assumption that Emos might be worshiping Satan, the Quran says “you have your religion and I have mine”. There are so many myths around them. They are being killed for being perceived as too feminine and gay.’

Emo, short for emotional or Emocore is a US originated hardcore punk-rock music that appeared in the 80s attracting teenagers mostly and known for its expressive and often confessional lyrics portraying pain and cheerful disgust of life.

Bissam an independent Iraqi LGBT activist and blogger, currently in exile said ‘we need to stop all these crimes against humanity. If the confession of the police colonel is true, then the state and its leadership are at least complicit in these massacres.

‘These Shiites fundamentalists interpret all differences as haram and satanic, exterminating people associated guarantees a place in heaven. The murders are religiously justified even though they have legal base in the country’s liberal constitution,’ adds Bissam.

‘These young people were told they had four days to change their behavior into the path the righteous. But which one, on what basis do they identify right from wrong? Even if they cut their hair short, they would still look different.’ He asked rhetorically.

The deputy asserted that ‘nobody has the right to hold others accountable or set himself a substitute for the law’.

Alakhbar.org, an Iraqi news website referred to the state of panic going viral among students and young people and the fear of being kidnapped, tortured and killed in cold blood because of the way they dress or comb their hair.

Comments

I think we need apartheid in Iraq and groups that target shiites and anyone who dresses in an Shiite fashion should be killed, people who wear veils, and whose skin color or features are seen as shiite should be killed.

[…] days ago (March 10th) All Out activists launched an international campaign based on a report conducted by Gayday Magazine, Gay Middle East, Bissam, an independent Iraqi activist and Gay Star News. The campaign calls upon […]